Holland is the widely used synonym for
the Netherlands to foreigners and tourists. The word Holland originally comes from Holt, which means
forest. Since this
country was not only very flat (neder = nether =
flat), but also covered with large forests, the name Holt-land (later named Holland) was used for the country in the 16th and 17th century.
The two main
provinces are North-Holland (capital:
Haarlem) and South-Holland (capital:
Den Haag).
After the merge of all old
provinces in the 18th century, the
Kingdom of the Netherlands was formed.
Holland is used as synonym for
the Netherlands today, but officially it's still
Nederland,
the Netherlands,
le Pays Bas or
die Niederlande.